Rain Can't Wash Away
by Stelena-Beautiful
Summary: An AU DuCaine short story based on the song "Georgia Rain" by Trisha Yearwood. This is my first CSI: Miami fan fiction.


**Rain Can't Wash Away**

_**A very AU Calleigh and Horatio short story based on the song "Georgia Rain". It's kind of sad so be warned.**_

_Calleigh Duquesne was fearless._ Or that's the façade she showed to the world anyway. But inside of her, underneath her eerily calm exterior, she was shaking like a leaf as she boarded the plane for Atlanta. She found her seat in coach – she never felt comfortable flying First class anymore; even if she had the money – and slid in next to a big woman who was busy knitting away. She might be making a very pink sweater. It was impossible to say at this point. Calleigh could tell that her seatmate was one of those overly talkative, intrusive types. The woman's flabby arms drooped over the divider between them and Calleigh sighed as she buckled herself into her seat.

Just as Calleigh had expected, the woman turned to look at her and tried striking up a conversation. Calleigh could only entertain her for so long though. The woman introduced herself as Agnes, after she had prattled on about how she was returning to Georgia after vacationing in Florida for two weeks – visiting her four grandchildren. She even offered their names (Sulie, Cranston, Cole and Tabby), bemoaning the fact that they didn't have nice Southern names like she had always pictured for her grandbabies. "What happened to Trisha or Blanche?" Agnes went on.

All of this was said before the flight attendants had even gone over the safety instructions. As the plane was nosing into the sky, Agnes kept up her inane chattering. Calleigh was getting a huge headache and closed her eyes as Agnes talked about how her ears were popping – oh they were popping so bad. Calleigh wanted peace and quiet but that seemed not to be in the cards.

When they reached full altitude, Calleigh smiled as the drink cart started moving down the line. She would have a beer and drink a bit to take the edge off. She still couldn't believe that she was returning to Georgia after nearly twenty-five years away. She had kept her distance on purpose. Whenever her parents had wanted to see her, they'd had to travel to Miami to visit her. She never wanted to see Jasper County again. Not after what had happened when she was sixteen-going-on seventeen and thinking her broken heart would surely kill her. She had changed so much since then - became hardened, adopted her personality as that fearless CSI who was always the first to face the line of fire, unflinching in the face of danger. She never would have chosen to go back there but this time it was entirely inescapable.

Kenwall "Duke" Duquesne was dead. A heart attack had taken him. She had always thought it would be something alcohol-related that killed him, given the way he had always chugged beer like it was going out of style but nope, he had suffered a fatal coronary. Calleigh could still remember her mother's phone call, how calm she had been when Calleigh was nearly quaking on her knees – even if it wasn't quite obvious to the naked eye. Her Mom and Dad had fallen out of love years before but Calleigh was surprised that she could be so eerily detached. Even Calleigh, against her own will, had felt a tear drip down her face. At work, that was almost inexcusable to her, but she was sequestered in the ballistics lab and she had known that no one would blame her. Her mother calmly, coolly, asked her to return for the funeral in two days and Calleigh had known she couldn't beg off. For all the times Duke had disappointed her, for all the times she'd had to pick him up at the local honky-tonk and drive him home, she had always loved him. She had respected him too in many ways. She would come home.

And here she was. On a plane that was too quickly approaching Georgia. She would have a short cab ride to her old family home and she would have three to four hours to try to mentally prepare herself for the funeral. She had brought her best black pantsuit that she had worn to too many funerals by now. In her line of work, it was a sad part of the job. One of her best friends – Tim Speedle, who everyone had called "Speed" – had died on duty just last year, taking a bullet right to the chest from a disgruntled thief during an intense shoot-out. Calleigh had stood at the back of the crowd of gatherers during the funeral, holding Eric Delko's hand. They had broken up about a week afterwards as Delko retreated into himself and Calleigh retreated into her work, becoming even more driven than before. Delko and Calleigh had also realized that they had little to nothing in common and in time, Delko had gravitated towards their fellow CSI, Natalia Boa Vista. Calleigh wasn't the least bit bitter about it. She had never truly loved him. At least not the way she had …

She shook her head. Never mind that. She looked over at Agnes and got lost in her endless talking. It helped block her mind from thinking things she dared not. She listened to Agnes and sat ramrod straight in her chair as she sipped her second beer.

Before long, the plane was bump-bumping down the runway. She had arrived. What she was arriving to she was almost afraid to guess but she reminded herself of her fearless reputation and swallowed it down. She had had more guns in her face than she could count. This shouldn't be so intimidating. It had been years; there was no need to be this affected.

Agnes offered her an enthusiastic "goodbye" and pushed past Calleigh, nearly crushing her legs. Calleigh was the last off the plane, of course.

She had only brought an overnight bag and her purse with her so she headed right for the exit of the airport. It was too easy to locate a taxi. She had wanted to stall a bit but there was a man waving her over wildly and she climbed into the back. She gave him directions and he put them in the little GPS on his dashboard. He tried to engage her in friendly conversation but all she could manage was grunts the closer they got to Jasper. She felt dread sitting heavy in the pit of her stomach and she wanted to throw up but resisted. She just rolled down her window all the way, feeling the hot Southern air smack her in the face until it was bright red – or so it appeared in the rearview mirror.

They were soon half a mile from her family's estate. The further they went into the country, the sadder and sicker she felt.

Naturally she shocked even herself when she asked the cabbie to turn down a certain road. A road known as Lover's Lane in Jasper County. It had been _the _place. The place where she'd watched the stars as rain pelted them until they were soaked to their skin; the same place where she'd lost her innocence.

The cabbie agreed. It was the long way to her place and it meant a bigger profit for him, of course. He turned the corner and she was surprised to see that the road was all paved now and there was even a street sign. She felt very disappointed somehow. The street name was simply called "Juniper Avenue". As if that communicated anything of what that lane had meant to her. She had felt so loved that day. She had stupidly believed that he loved her too. She had even believed him when he told her that while he had been with a lot of women, he'd never loved anyone of them. Until her.

The cab trundled down the smooth road and she remembered how many grooves and bumps the road had when it was just an old dirt path. She sighed and rested her head back on the seat as a memory overtook her, even against her own will…

_She watched him out of the corner of her eye as his truck bounced over the holes in the road. He caught her watching him and offered her a smile as he lowered his sunglasses to the bridge of his proud nose. It was a smile wider than she had ever seen him give. He'd always seemed like such a tragic soul. Part of what drew her to him. She didn't want to fix him; she just wanted to love him until his pain melted away. Like she had that kind of power, she mused, but she smiled back sheepishly. Her heart was slamming almost painfully into her chest as she turned away to watch the sun beginning to dip in the Georgia sky. It was summer and one of the hottest on record. The farmers in the area were all concerned about their crops and there had even been prayer circles at the local Methodist church to ask God to send some rain. When a Baptist stepped into a Methodist church, you knew that it was bad._

_Calleigh darted another look at Horatio. He was watching the road intently now and she studied his profile, noting the slight crags in his skin. Even at the age of twenty, he looked so mature and dignified. He was an old soul. The thought that he had deigned to spend the evening with her – a short, skinny, generic blonde of sixteen – excited her._

_He had been taking care of her mother's prized horses for two months before he'd even offered her a kiss on the cheek. It was another month and a half before she felt the heat of his lips on hers. She had been kissed a few times before but it had never, ever felt like that._

_They had been sneaking around, sharing hot, passionate kisses for some time now. There were times when she knew that he wanted to pull away because what felt so right between them was still so wrong, but he never had. And tonight she wanted him to make love to her. She was scared but she was ready too. She wanted to become a woman – his woman. Forever._

_The anticipation was driving her wild, making her head throb but not unpleasantly, as he pulled the car the truck to a stop on the side of the lane. It was deserted and she was so glad for that. No one would see them and she wouldn't have to share him with anyone._

_They wordlessly climbed out of the truck after Horatio hit the button on his radio. It was a country station – one of the very few stations they got out here – and Patsy Cline was crooning "I Love You, Honey". Calleigh knew H – as she called him sometimes – wasn't a big country music fan but he played it for her. He did so much for her; really. In fact, this had all begun the night she'd come home from a date with Billy Adamson and he'd been so grabby and pushy. When he'd tried to shove her onto a pile of hay, H had rescued her and sent Billy away with matching black eyes. He was her hero from then on and they discussed their dreams and hopes, often sitting in the bed of his truck or sequestered up in the hayloft. He told her that he wanted to be a police officer or something of that sort - and not in little Jasper County but in a big city, away from too many small-minded people. She had said all she wanted was for him to be happy and she would follow him there, as soon as she turned eighteen – or maybe sooner._

_Calleigh smiled at Horatio and offered him her hand. He squeezed it so tightly and her heart kept up that insistent hammering. He then lifted her up by the waist and she giggled girlishly, in spite of herself, as he swung her up onto the back of the truck. There was a plastic bag there and she knew what it contained. A blanket. The blanket they had sat on so many times, leggings swinging over the side of the truck gate. She picked it up slowly and pulled the afghan free. He had said it was all he had left from his mother's side of the family._

_Horatio joined her, scaling into the truck and landing somewhere close behind her. She shivered as she felt the heat of his body very near to hers. He took the blanket from her hands and began to spread it out wordlessly on the truck bed. He then offered his own hands to Calleigh and lowered her to it. She sat down and tugged her knees up to her chest. He sat beside her then and he slowly tucked an arm around her waist. She instinctively leaned into him, pressing herself against his side. They talked for a bit, but it was hard to keep up a conversation when there was so much heat percolating between them. At times she just couldn't talk and could tell that he was finding verbalizing his thoughts difficult as well._

_He finally laid back and gently pulled her down beside him. His work-calloused fingers were hot on her wrist as she snuggled up to his firm body. She bravely pressed a kiss to the side of his neck. He growled low in his throat and the sound excited her. She wanted him, she wanted him so badly that she felt slick with desire. She'd never been with a man this way but she knew she was turned on and ready for more._

_She kissed his neck again and still once more, before he reached for her chin and cupped it in his hand, tilting her face up so he could kiss her full on the mouth. His tongue nudged at her lips and she allowed him entrance as his hands snaked to the belt loops on her denim jeans. He used them as leverage to tug her still closer._

_When they came away breathless, he stroked her cheek and whispered that she was "so damn pretty". It made her flush red in the face with happiness. "And you're so handsome, Horatio," she returned. He shrugged. He wasn't used to taking compliments; she knew that well by now._

_His hands fisted in her long flaxen hair and they started kissing anew just as they heard a crack of thunder in the sky. She didn't even jump. She felt too safe and secure with him. Soon it was raining and they were doused lying there, foreheads pressed together. "We made the rain finally come," Horatio said and he chuckled. Calleigh smiled. He had made her cum too. It was a brazen thought but it was true. He was doing things to her she enjoyed probably too much._

"_Let's go back inside the cab," Horatio said in a hoarse voice. He kissed her and she nodded. He helped her down like a true gentleman and then dropped to the ground that was already slippery with mud._

_They ran for the safety and warmth of the truck's cab. They sat inside there for a long moment staring ahead at the darkening sky. "Are you cold?" Horatio finally spoke._

_She shook her head. "No. You?"_

"_No."_

"_Horatio, I want to ask you something."_

_"Sure."_

"_It's a weird question but … Have you been with a lot of women before?"_

_He smiled at her. "I could lie to you and say no but the truth is I've sowed my wild oats more than most, looking for something I never found until now." He looked at her pointedly and she shivered but not from being soaked to the bone._

"_H," she murmured as his fingers slipped behind her and found the small her back. He massaged her gently. She smiled and decided to be fearless. She shifted on the seat to look at him. "Horatio, I want you to make love to me. I want you to be my first, my only."_

_He stared at her and she saw desire in his eyes. Naked desire. It was something she'd heard about but now giving witness to it, she felt still wetter in the crotch of her panties._

"_If we do that… There's no going back, Calleigh. You deserve a lot better than me."_

_"Don't say that. You're wonderful and I just want … I want to feel you as one with me."_

"_You're not even seventeen yet…"_

_"I know that but age is just a number, right, and nothing more."_

_"Not according to the law."_

"_Who cares about the law right now. I can keep a secret … Please, H, please make love to me. That's all I've been wanting since we met."_

"_You're sure? I mean, that's a gift you should give the right man."_

_"You are the right man, Horatio. You're the only man I want. Please. Don't make me beg. Unless you don't want-"_

"_I want you," Horatio said. "More than I ever wanted anyone. Truth is that I love you."_

_Calleigh's heart swelled. "I love you too! I love you so much. We deserve to show each other how much we love each other, right?" She leaned over and pressed her fingers to the buttons on his white shirt. She started to pry them loose and slipped her hand to his chest, touching the soft curls there._

"_Cal," he growled as her fingers zipped over his nipples._

"_Horatio," she said murmured as she closed the rest of the distance between them. He nodded at her and his eyes were darker and stormier than the night sky._

_He reached for her and pulled her onto his lap. His mouth covered hers as he slid his hand down her back to lightly tug at the hem of her shirt. With another tug it was coming up over her head and her blonde hair melded to her bare back. His fingers grazed the clasp on her bra and he finally unsnapped it as her blood hummed._

"_Cal," he murmured deep in his throat as she rocked against his hard member through his pants. "You're killing me."_

"_I need you, H," she whispered._

"_I need you too," he said and he moved his hands to her small, pert breasts and began to massage the nipples until they were purpled and swelling._

_Before long he was laying her back against the seat and whispering her name. He murmured in her ear that this might hurt and she said she didn't care; she didn't care at all because she loved him. She trusted him so much…_

XoXoXo

Calleigh was so lost in her thoughts that the cabbie had to shout at her twice before she finally realized that they were sitting in front of her house. She saw her mother emerge to stand on the doorstep. She sighed and dug money out of her purse, handing it to the driver. He thanked her and she nodded. He wished her a great day and sped off.

Calleigh sighed again as she began walking towards her mother. Her mother who was holding her arms out to Calleigh and becoming a mother in that moment, not the child-woman she had been - always trying to be Calleigh's friend instead of her parent. Right now, Calleigh needed her mother more than a gal pal.

Her mother ushered her inside and the door banged closed behind them. Calleigh felt tears burn the back of her eyes but she didn't cry. She couldn't. If she started, she might never stop.

_**Is this worth continuing? Let me know, Ducaine fans! Also, does anyone know Calleigh's mother's name? If not I may have to make up a name for her haha**_


End file.
